1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to wellcare management methods and systems and particularly to wellcare management methods and systems suitable for use by veterinarians.
2. Description of Related Art
Wellcare health management systems are essentially a form of managed care, combining a variety of techniques to reduce the cost of providing health benefits and improve the quality of care. Managed care encompasses programs intended to reduce unnecessary health care costs through a variety of mechanisms, including: (1) programs that provide economic incentives that reward both the health care providers and patients for selecting less costly forms of care; (2) programs for reviewing the medical necessity of specific services; (3) increased beneficiary cost sharing; (4) controls on inpatient admissions and lengths of stay; (5) establishing cost-sharing incentives for outpatient surgery; (6) selective contracting with health care providers; and (7) intensive management of high-cost health care cases.
Most efforts at medical and veterinary care are focused on treatment. While some programs offer a wellness component, few programs have focused primarily on wellcare, or are solely dedicated to wellcare management. Fewer still have been focused on veterinarian practice or animal health and wellness.
One large chain of veterinary clinics currently offers a “prepaid wellness plan” but those plans are 100% specific to corporately owned practices and not available to individual, privately owned practices. Such prepaid wellness plans also cannot be customized, e.g., by veterinary practice.
The occasional veterinarian offers clients a wellness plan(s) but these plans are typically 100% pre-paid, typically because of associated legal and administrative challenges associated with implementing and managing the plan.
There is, therefore, a need for new wellcare management methods and systems, particularly wellcare management systems suitable for use by veterinarians.